Golden Days
by N.T Rayne
Summary: A series of short stories telling the over arching story of what happened after the end of the second wizarding war and how those to survived found happiness again in loved ones and family. The dark days are over and the golden days are here.


**Golden Days**

**By: xLucky-Sparks**

**Disclaimer: Aside from the ideas and possibly the occasion O/C character that might make an apparence in the fic, I own nothing. The great woman and writer known as JK Rowling owns the Harry Potter universe and without her, this story wouldn't exist.**

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**Chapter One:** A Good Enough Ending

"I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity."

- Gilda Radner

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Bright red roses on a dull gray day.

Harry Potter stood silently as he stared at the single solitary rose in his hand. It was the second of May, exactly one year since the Great Battle of Hogwarts where many gave their lives to protect the school from the Death Eaters. It was exactly one year ago since the fall of the infamous Lord Voldemort by Harry's own hand.

Exactly one year ago.

Had it really been, just one year ago?

A crack of thunder roared across the sky as Harry looked up at the heavens, watching as a storm set sky rolled above him. The students inside the castle probably weren't too thrilled when they heard the roll of thunder and the flash of lightning. There had been talk of a celebration outdoors to commemorate what happened on these very grounds and to remember those who have given their lives to save the wizarding world. If it rained, it would spoil the party.

It was amazing how quickly the wizarding world was beginning to adjust to a life without Voldemort. A life without fear of prejudice or hate, a life many witches and wizards could only dream about. Just yesterday, Harry was walking down the streets of Diagon Alley to see the ice cream shop, once ran by Mr. Florean Fortescue, being replaced by a new sweet shop that had its grand opening today. He remembered sitting at the ice cream shop, doing his homework while getting help from the kind and jolly owner.

It had been one year ago.

He still missed them, all of them.

Tears started to form in his eyes but Harry held them back, silently willing himself to remain composed. Even though a year had passed, not a day went by when Harry didn't think of everyone who had died for the greater good.

Even now, when Harry entered the Weasely Wizard Wheezes, he expected to see Fred and George walking out from the back of the shop. They would be smiling together as they told him about their latest gizmo or another. Fred would grin before telling Harry could get a discount while Ron had to pay full price. The joke shop had lost half its laughter because Fred was gone. Although George was able to smile and joke again, his laughter had never fully returned.

Sometimes at night when he's writing a letter to Dudley, who he managed to be on decent terms with now, Harry could still feel Hedwig's familiar nip on his finger. And once the house was still and the lights were out, he could hear the rustle of her wings before she settled on the windowsill, tapping on it to be let in.

Grimmauld Place was so much darker. Everywhere Harry went, traces of his godfather followed him. Although it made him feel safer, knowing that he was looked after by someone from beyond the grave, it was still sad knowing that Sirius was so close yet so far from seeing a world without Voldemort. After years of living in hell, Sirius was the one person who deserved to see the golden days.

Yes, everywhere he went Harry could still feel the lingering shades of those he loved. At the Ministry of Magic where he is training to be an Auror, he could hear Mad Eye Moody's growling voice, lecturing him when he fails to perform a spell. When he saw a misplaced sock on his dresser, Harry would instantly put it away for Dobby – only to remember that the elf had died to save his life.

Then there was Teddy Lupin. He was born at the cusp of the war and lost his parents in the end. He was the last orphan to lose his parents to the evil of Lord Voldemort. Whenever Harry looked at him, he remembered Remus and Tonks who would never get to see their son grow up. They would have made good parents, perfect parents, if their lives hadn't ended in the war. It was unfair, life was unfair.

If today was a day to celebrate, why was he feeling so miserable?

The tears that Harry had hidden so well began to fall as he looked at the white tomb in front of him. Behind it was a white stone where all the names of those who died for justice and for this bright future was engraved into. As he scanned each name, Harry felt a deeper sense of sadness knowing that they weren't there with him to celebrate. His friends and family, people he had expected to survive until the bitter end, gone.

This wasn't how a fairytale was supposed to end. This wasn't a happily ever after.

So why was everyone treating it like one?

"Hello stranger."

Turning around, Harry smiled when he saw his long time friend Hermione walking up to him, dressed in the current Hogwarts robes. A dozen white roses were in her arms along with an envelope sealed with red wax. Wiping away his tears, Harry nodded at Hermione and watched as she placed the roses on the tomb, then carefully placing the letter next to it.

"Are they moving the celebration indoors?" asked Harry, once Hermione was done.

"I guess it would depend on whether or not the weather clears up before noon," said Hermione. She didn't look up at him or at the sky. Her dark brown eyes were locked on the tomb in front of her.

Silence.

No other words were exchanged between the two friends as Harry reached out and took Hermione by the hand. There was no need for words. The both of them needed someone to stand by them right now. Someone who could understand the pain the other had gone through during the war and the loss that came with it. They needed to be reassured that despite the sands of time, there was someone else who remembered the sacrafices tha took place.

It was Hermione who broke the silence.

"I still imagine him sometimes," she said in a whisper, "Especially at the sorting ceremony at the beginning of the year when he would stand up and say all these odd things and the banquet would appear. And everyone else... I still see them in my dreams. I can still see them at Hogwarts like in the old days. Playing Quidditch. Worrying about exams."

Harry nodded. "It wasn't suppose to end this way, was it Hermione?"

Another moment of silence.

"No. It wasn't. It was supposed to end perfectly with all of us celebrating today, together," said Hermione as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "But it did and we can't change the past as much as we'd want too, Harry."

He knew that, but it never stopped him from wishing he could. Then Hermione did something, Harry didn't expect her to do.

She laughed.

The sound of her laughter was carried through the wind and blew across the grounds of Hogwarts. A sweet laugh filled with joy and sadness that swirled with emotions. Then from laughter came tears, but she was still laughing. Seconds passed and the laughter subsided as Hermione looked at Harry. He could see the spark of life in her eyes before she looked away and sniffled a bit.

"Sorry about that," she said before she turned back to him, "It's just. They'd want us to be happy, to celebrate our lives and their lives and here we are acting like two old folks and being depressed."

Harry couldn't help but smile at that. He then found himself laughing a bit also at her comparison. "You're right," he said, "You're absolutely right."

A chill breeze blew between them as Harry and Hermione continued to look at the memorial, lost in their thoughts. "You know Harry," said Hermion, breaking the silence again, "This might not be the perfect ending. But I guess it's a good enough ending for us, right?"

He didn't say anything.

Walking forward, Harry placed the red rose upon the white tomb and took a step back from it. The man who was like a father to him was laying beneath the white marble in his eternal slumber. If he was a live, Harry knew what he would tell him to do.

"The weather looks like it's clearing up," said Harry as he glanced heavenwards. He turned to her and smiled before nodding towards the castle. "Come on Hermione, let's head inside and help set up. Ron's going to come in a bit to help out. Ginny might be a bit late but everyone else should be on time."

Hermione looked at Harry and smiled before she started following him.. She knew he agreed with her as the both of them walked back to the castle. Even though the war had ended on a darker note, like all wars do, it was because of the darkness that the beginning of the future had so much light.

Yes, the ending wasn't perfect but it was good enough.

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**Author's Note:** So, I've decided to try my hand at writing a series of short stories chronicling the lives of the various survivors of the Second Wizarding War and beyond. Golden Days isn't going to have a set update schedule like my other story Witch Hunt, which I try to update every week, and so updates to it will be sporadic. I have some good ideas floating about, it's when I have time to write them that's the question. Also, the interpretations of character personalities and all that in Golden Days will have nothing to do with the interpretation of character personalities in Witch Hunt. In no way are the two connected and each fiction is entirely separate from the other. Until next time,

Your Lucky Sparks.


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